Does the PREMERE™ device offer technical advantages for percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale? 

The Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) is a communication within the interatrial septum allowing a paradoxical shunt from the right atrium to the left atrium. This may happen in basal condition or during a Valsalva manoeuvre.
The incidence of PFO in a normal population is around 10-30% in autopsy studies. The association between PFO and transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and/or stroke was demonstrated in 1989 by Webster and Lechat. A meta-analysis, published by Overell et al. on Neurology in 2000, confirmed these initial data. These authors showed that in patients with cryptogenic TIA/Stroke the incidence of PFO is three times higher than in control subjects. In particular, in subjects aged less than 55 years the incidence of PFO is 5 times higher than in control. Morphological variations associated with PFO may increase the risk of paradoxical embolism. Various papers have really showed a significant correlation between the relevance of the right-to-left shunt and a higher incidence of cryptogenic TIA/Stroke. Furthermore, the association of PFO with the so-called aneurysm of the interatrial septum (AIaS) increases the risk of neurologic events. The prevalence of AIaS is higher in patients compared to controls (11% versus 0.5%)....continua a leggere